Dean feels very passionately about the First World War and went to great lengths to add a new photo to the current exhibition — a photo that would demonstrate the contribution of women to the First World War, and in particular at Ypres near Passchendaele.

Dean went to great lengths to create his new photo, which depicts women nursing wounded soldiers. He dug up an Auckland farm to recreate the conditions that our troops may have experienced. The media covered Dean’s photo shoot in the New Zealand Herald online and also in the Cook Strait News, below.

Our new exhibition End of the War? – the final episode in Chapters of the Great War – opened on Thursday to acclaim from local and national media outlets.

Stuff reporter Amber Woolfe talked to Ashley Mackenzie-White who is the great grandniece of William Arthur Ham was the first New Zealand soldier killed in the First World War. Click here to see their interview.

Ben Irwin of NewsHub interviewed Steve La Hood of Story Inc, who created the seven Chapters of The Great War; and also talked to Jack McDonald, great grandson of Archibald Baxter, a conscientious objector from the First World War; and to Hugo Manson, the son of Cecil Manson, who was in Gallipoli at 19 years of age.

NewsHub in action, Ben Irwin interviews Briar Barry and Steve LaHood of Story Inc. and Hugo Manson and Jack McDonald

Frances Cook and Matt Mitchell of the New Zealand Herald spoke with Miria Pomare, great granddaughter of Māori Member of Parliament Sir Maui Pomare and his influential wife Lady Miria who supported the Māori and Pacific Islands contribution to the war. Their interview is here.

Radio New Zealand reporter Ruth Hill discusses the effect of the First World War on families with Tui Tararo, granddaughter of Private Frank Tararo, a Cook Islander who lost an arm fighting in the Māori battalion. Please click here to read the article.

The final episode in Chapters of the Great War – created by Story Inc and Dusk – is open from 26 July to late November at The Great War Exhibition. To book general admission to the main exhibition, a guided tour, a Quinn’s Post Trench Experience, or a combo ticket for all three, please click here.

Deborah Pitts Taylor was ahead of her time. A woman who believed in female empowerment, she drove First World War ambulances in Brockenhurst, England, transporting convoys of wounded ANZAC soldiers to the hospital.

Her granddaughter Dr. Janet Frater and great-granddaughter Deborah Rose, (named after Deborah Pitts Taylor) recently visited The Great War Exhibition to see Women’s War, which highlights Deborah’s contribution to the war.

Janet lived with Deborah as a child, and says that Deborah’s determination to help in the war and do a “man’s job” has empowered her female ancestors. Janet grew up knowing women could do anything, and went on to study medicine at a time when she was one of only 12 women in her class of 60.

The New Zealand Herald interviewed Janet about her Deborah’s contribution to the First Word War, her influence on their family, and the ties they still nurture with the village of Brockenhurst. Please read their article here.

Deborah, who drove first world war ambulances, in Brockenhurst during the First World War. (Image courtesy of Auckland War Memorial Museum).

For more information about Women’s War, which closes in mid May, click here.

This stained glass window in St Nicholas church in Brockenhurst depicts the strong ties the Brockenhusrt community formed with New Zealand soldiers.

Our new touring exhibition, War in the Holy Lands, was featured in The Dominion Post over the weekend.

War in the Holy Lands, open until late February 2018, follows the experiences of New Zealand soldiers who fought on horseback across the ancient Holy Lands of Sinai and Palestine during the First World War.

A Newlands College Deaf class recently enjoyed touring The Great War Exhibition and neighbouring Pukeahu National War Memorial Park with Andy Glanville, an education facilitator. Joy Howard, a New Zealand Sign Language Communicator, accompanied them, translating Andy’s tour into sign language as they went.

Their visit featured in their local newspaper, the Independent Herald.

The Exhibition is well-suited to Deaf learners, because it brings the war to life through visual displays such as movie-like war sets, wartime objects and colourised images.